❥𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 || 𝐌𝐉 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 ❥/𝓒𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓽𝓮𝓭/•

💗𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟲: 𝖠𝗇 𝖴𝗇𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾𝗅𝗒 𝖱𝖾𝗎𝗇𝗂𝗈𝗇💗

You'd made a decision - you needed to see him.

Yes, perhaps it was going to dredge up the demons of the past, but after seeing everything that he was striving to do for his final tour, you couldn't ignore the red flags that stood out.

He was taking on too much, and even though you knew him to be a man of solid stamina, he had never done as much as he had revealed he was going to do.

And even if he had, things weren't the same as it was twenty two years ago.

So in spite of the fact that you had no clue as to how Michael would have felt about seeing you again, you made your way down to the auditorium that the young man, from earlier, had mentioned.

Now that you were older, though, the possibility of a huge fight occurring between the two of you was very low - for time had forced everyone to grow up and be realistic.

It would have been useless to have argued about the past now.

Currently, you had just ascended the short staircase that led to the front doors of the building, and already, you could hear the beats of music that were far too familiar.

There hadn't been any security guards at the entrance, and if there had been, you presumed that they'd stepped out for a snack or the like - because you'd been able to walk right into the building.

Despite everything, you couldn't help but smile at the sight of the energetic back-up dancers that pranced about the stage.

The feeling was peculiar when you finally spotted Michael in the middle of it all, laughing as he paid attention to the timing of the dancers' movements.

Where you had expected to feel overwhelmed, you felt...calm.

Perhaps age had grounded you a great deal.

The only person you recognized was Michael, because everyone else on his team was new. All of the old members had either passed away or retired, stinging you a little - for change was only a reminder of what was lost.

Nevertheless, you walked further in, and a few dancers spotted you, making them stop.

They might never have gotten the chance to know you, but they sure as hell recognized you from your past with Michael.

When Michael saw that his dancers were distracted, he turned to identify what they'd been staring at - and the moment his eyes landed on you, utter silence befell the entire space.

He stood there, staring at you for what had felt like an unbearable lifetime.

There wasn't any harsh quality to his gaze - he was more surprised than anything else.

Finally, he turned to the stage occupants, calling for an end to rehearsals for the day. Everyone was taken aback by the sudden decision to call off rehearsals altogether, but it was also understood that it was for a very good reason.

Michael descended from the stage, slowly making his way over to you - and just as you once had, all those years ago, you met him half-way.

When he got closer, the both of you were intrigued by how different you looked - yet at the same time, you appeared to have looked the same as you always had.

Perhaps because you'd seen each other in ways that no one else had.

"Hey," he finally let out a breath.

That's when it became clear that Michael had also developed the same mindset as you - it was ridiculous to have aggravated the tension now. Had you both been ten years younger, there might have been an exchange - but that was not the case.